MIDI

The Musical Instrument Digital Interface is 30 this year. This technological breakthrough, which allows musical instruments, computers, and other related devices to communicate with one another, was debuted to the public at NAMM ’83.

Synth god Dave Smith gleefully paraded the MIDI connection between his Prophet 600 and a Roland JP-6 that year, and music making changed forever.

It would grant as little as one performer the power to operate vast banks of synths and samplers. No formal understanding of musical notion was required, either.

The sound of the ‘80s is thanks to people like Dave Smith, who picked up a Technical Grammy last year for his work in developing MIDI as we know it today.